Catholic leaders react to Chauvin verdict (America) “The verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin is a sobering moment for our community,” said Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minnesota in a statement released soon after the verdict was announced. The decision, he said, “punctuates the grief that has gripped the Twin Cities in these last months and underscores the soul-searching that has taken place in homes, parishes, and workplaces across the country as we together confront the chasm that exists between the brokenness of our world and the harmony and fraternity that our Creator intends for all his children…”

Bishop Hoeppner apologizes to diocese in farewell Mass (NCR) In his homily, Hoeppner, who had led the diocese since 2007, spoke with positive overtones, thanking the diocese’s Catholics and calling it “a joyful moment because of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit and these past 13 years, so many wonderful things.” “There’s a sadness in parting, but again we welcome Bishop Pates and thank him so very much,” he said. He acknowledged his resignation and its general circumstances.He apologized “to you and everyone, as I’ve apologized to the Holy Father, for any failures of mine in governing as bishop,” he said…

Tennessee House passes bill requiring burial or cremation for aborted fetuses (CNA) The Tennessee House of Representatives advanced a bill this week that would require medical providers to bury or cremate the bodies of aborted babies. The bill passed through the House on Monday. It is scheduled for a vote at the state’s Senate on Wednesday…

USCCB calls research with fetal tissue from abortion “deeply offensive” (CNS) The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee April 20 called on the Biden administration to fund research “that does not rely upon body parts taken from innocent children killed through abortion.” “The bodies of children killed by abortion deserve the same respect as that of any other person,” said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities…

The troubled Catholicism of Ernest Hemingway (Angelus) Hemingway was raised in a Congregationalist Protestant home, and his first conversion to Catholicism occurred when he was a 19-year-old and volunteer ambulance driver in Italy during World War I. Two weeks into the job, he was delivering candy to soldiers on the frontlines when he was hit by machine-gun fire and more than 200 metal fragments from an exploding mortar round. An Italian priest recovered his body, baptized him right on the battlefield and gave him the last rites…

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